Reuters: Oddly Enough: Chen Guang-who? Chinese official claims ignorance of blind activist

Reuters: Oddly Enough Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Chen Guang-who? Chinese official claims ignorance of blind activist Nov 9th 2012, 16:15 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News China data shows economic recovery gaining pace 5:54am EST Chinese women's rights activist sent to labor camp again Tue, Nov 6 2012 Cautious reformers tipped for new China leadership Tue, Nov 6 2012 China's disgraced Bo Xilai trapped in legal limbo: lawyers Mon, Nov 5 2012 Blind Chinese activist's brother says lawsuit rejected Thu, Nov 1 2012 Analysis & Opinion Obama continuity is good for China-U.S. ties Historic stakes are higher in China than in U.S. Related Topics World » Oddly Enough » People » Activist and advocate Chen Guangcheng smiles at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York May 31, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Eric Thayer BEIJING | Fri Nov 9, 2012 11:15am EST BEIJING (Reuters) - Despite causing a huge diplomatic incident between the world's two largest economies earlier this year, the Chinese official in charge of the hometown of blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng said on Friday that he has no idea who he was. Chen, one of China's most prominent human rights advocates, slipped away from under the noses of guards and eyes and ears of surveillance equipment around his village home near Linyi in eastern Shandong province in late April. He then sought refuge at the U.S. embassy in Beijing for six days, embarrassing China and creating an awkward backdrop for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit which happened to fall at the same time. But asked on the sidelines of a party congress in Beijing about Chen, Linyi's Communist Party boss Zhang Shaojun deadpanned. "I've never heard (of him)," Zhang told Reuters, before hurrying away into a closed-door meeting. In May, Chen told Reuters that an unnamed central government official had promised to investigate accusations that local officials engineered his jailing on false charges and subsequent 19 months of extra-judicial house arrest and abuse. But Zhang, a portly man with thinning hair, said he knew of no such investigation. "I've never heard of this matter," he said. Robbed of his sight as a child, the rural-born Chen taught himself law and drew international attention in 2005 after accusing officials of enforcing late-term abortions and sterilizations. Following intense negotiations between Chinese and U.S. officials, Chen left the embassy and was allowed to apply for a visa to study abroad. He is currently a visiting fellow at the New York University School of Law. (Reporting by Gabriel Wildau; Editing by Ben Blanchard) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions